Fastening device for shoes, particularly for ski and mountaineering shoes



July 23, 1968 L. BASO 3,393,430

FASTENING DEVICE FOR SHOES, PARTICULARLY FOR SKI AND MOUNTAINEERINGSHOES Filed Dec. 16, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. L 06/6 5450 July23, 1968 BASO 3,393,430

FASTENING DEVICE FOR SHOES, PARTICULARLY FOR SKI AND MOUNTAINEERINGsnows Filed Dec. 16. 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Z 06/3 B 450 UnitedStates Patent 3,393,430 FASTENING DEVICE FOR SHOES, PARTICULARLY FOR SKIAND MOUNTAINEERING SHOES Loris Baso, Via Pozzuolo 3, Padua, Italy FiledDec. 16, 1966, Ser. No. 602,218

Claims priority, application Italy, Dec. 31, 1965,

29,283/ 65 Claims. (Cl. 24-70) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A fasteningdevice for ski shoes having an anchor plate mounted at one side of theinstep portion of the shoe and a bearing block mounted at the other sideof the instep portion of the shoe. A clamping loop is swingably arrangedrelative to the anchor plate and a tension lever is swingably afiixed tothe bearing block. The tension lever is provided with a plurality ofrecesses therein with the clamping loop being engageable with one ofsaid recesses for closing the fastening device. Spring means are mountedbetween the clamping loop and the anchor plate to permit yieldingtherebetween during closing of the fastening device.

This invention relates to a fastening device for shoes, particularly forski and mountaineering shoes. Said fastening device comprises an anchorplate mounted at one side of the instep part of the shoe together with aclamping loop swingably affixed thereon, which clamping loop isengageable in recesses of a tensioning lever which is mounted by meansof a bearing block at the other side of the instep part.

It is an object of the invention to manufacture a fastening device ofsuch construction which can easily be closed without causing a strong,unpleasant pressure on the instep of the foot and which is sufficientlyflexible in closed condition to allow a certain movement of the foot inthe shoe.

To attain said purpose, the invention provides that a spring means isprovided between the anchor plate and the clamping loop. Saidconstruction has several advantages. During the closing of the fasteningdevice the spring means between the clamping loop and the anchor plateyields and, consequently, said spring means effects a limitation, on theone hand, of the closing force acting from the fastening device onto theinstep and, on the other hand, of the closing force acting by hand ontothe tensioning lever. By this, excess pressure onto the instep and alsoan overstressing of the instep parts of the instep leather or theclosing device are prevented. When the fastening device is closed, thespring means allows a certain movement of the foot in the shoe.

Furthermore, the clamping loop of the invention can be used inassociation with various tensioning levers of the mentioned constructionwhereby the named advantages are obtained in each case.

Further advantages and details of the invention are discussedhereinbelow in detail with reference to the illustrative embodiments setforth in the drawings wherein FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic view of askiing shoe utilizing the clamping loops of the invention and comprisingtogether with appropriate tensioning levers;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of a clamping loop together with anassociated tensioning lever.

FIGURE 3 is a top view of a clamping loop together with the tensioninglever according to FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a top view partially cut on the clamp according to FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational sectional view of a 3,393,43 PatentedJuly 23, 1968 ice fastening device comprising the clamping loop of theinvention and a resiliently arranged tensioning lever;

FIGURE 6 is a top view of a blank of an anchor plate punched out ofmetal.

The skiing shoe illustrated in FIGURE 1 comprises several anchor plates2 being arranged on the side 1 of the instep part of the shoe. Clampingloops 3 are mounted swingably to each one of said anchor plates. Saidclamping loops 3 are engageable, in a known manner, in recesses oftensioning levers 4 which are supported by means of bearing blocks 5 onthe other side 6 of the instep part of the shoe, respectively. Eachclamping loop 3 and tensioning lever 4 together form a fastening device.

According to the invention, spring means 7 are provided between each oneof the clamping loops 3 and anchor plates 2. As illustrated in FIGURES 3and 4, the clamping loop 3 in the illustrated embodiment is connectedflexibly to a tension member 8 which is mounted, and guided movably, onthe anchor plate 2, and the spring means 7 is provided between thetension member 8 and part 14 of the anchor plate 2. This arrangement ofthe tension member allows not only as easy transmission of forces fromthe clamping loop acting onto the spring means but also allows anadvantageous, commonly known, swingable mounting of the clamping loop.In the illustrated embodiment, the tension member 8 is U-shaped, thelegs thereof being arranged movably within a fiat pocket 10 and alongthe narrow edges thereof. Said flat pocket 10 has a rectangular crosssection, is open toward the side opposite the clamping loop 3 and isdefined by suitable means connected to the anchor plate 2. Furthermore,said legs are pivoted with their free ends 11 of the clamping loop 3,said ends being guided in respective openings 12 along the edges of thepocket 10. As can be seen, the tension member 8 is movable with respectto the pocket 10. The spring means 7 is supported on the one side on theweb 13 of the tension member 8, on the other side, said spring means issupported on the bottom part 14 of the pocket 10. It is illustratedespecially in FIGURE 4 that the illustrated embodiment of the clampingloop of the invention is not only reliable in its function because ofthe guiding of the clamping loop 3 by means of the tension member 8 atthe anchor plate 2, but is also attractive in appearance because of thesmooth outer surface of the pocket 10 (see FIGURES 1 and 2).

The spring means 7 comprises preferably at least one compression spring.In the illustrated embodiment, three coil springs are arrangedside-by-side in the pocket 10 between the legs 9 of the U-shaped tensionmember 8. The use of several compression springs arranged side-bysideresults in equal distribution of the spring force over the width of thetension member 8 and further assists their reception into a relativelyfiat pocket 10.

In the illustrated embodiment, the anchor plate 2 is made of thin metalplate which, as illustrated in FIG- URE 6, is constructed so that thepocket 10 can be integrally formed therefrom by suitable bending thereofsubstantially along the respective bending lines as indicated by thedash-dot lines in FIGURE 6 so as to form a substantially closed housing.In particular, the anchor plate 2 is formed with a first portion 24integrally connected and extending therefrom, upon the end of whichthere is also integrally connected a second portion 14 which in turn isintegrally connected to a third portion 15. The portion 15 also haslateral flaps 15A on opposite sides thereof. In forming the pocket orhousing 10, the plate-like member illustrated in FIGURE 6 is bent alongthe line 31 whereupon the portion 14 is positioned substantiallytransverse with respect to the portion 24 as illustrated in FIGURE 5.The plate-like member is also bent along the line 32 whereupon theportion 15 is positioned substantially transverse with respect to theportion 14. Thus, the portion 14 functions as a base portion for thehousing with the portions and 24 functioning as the upper and lowerwalls, respectively. The flap portions 15A are also bent downwardlyabout the bending lines 33 so as to form sidewalls for the housing inthe manner illustrated in FIGURE 2. The projections or tabs 34 formed onthe flaps 15A extend down below the bottom wall 24 for holding theclosed housing 10 together.

During the manufacture of the clamping loop of the invention, thepressure springs 7 are guided into the pocket after which the U-shapedtension member 8 holding the springs is moved into the pocket in such away that its open ends 11 slide through the holes 12 provided at theedges of the pockets. The free ends 11 of the legs 9 of the tensionmember 8 are provided with holes 16 (FIG- URE 2) into which the ends 17of the clamping loop 3 engage. Mounting of the anchor plate 2 to theside 1 of the instep part can occur in a known manner by means of rivets18 (FIGURES 1 and 2).

As illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 6, the lower part 24 of the pocket 10,which also forms an extension of the anchor plate 2, is mounted to theunderside of the side 1 of the instep part. According to theillustration in FIG- URE 2, this has the advantage that the pocket 10projects only a little over the side 1 of the instep part and thearrangement is consequently of attractive appearance.

FIGURE 5 illustrates an embodiment of a fastening device in which theclamping loop 3 cooperates with a tensioning lever 19 which cooperateswith a pressure spring 20. Said spring 20 is supported on its one end onthe axis 21 of the bearing block 5, provided to hold the pivoted end 22of the tensioning lever, and is supported at its other end on a part 22of the tensioning lever whereby the tensioning lever is guided movablywith respect tothe axis by means of lateral longitudinal slots 23. Bysuch a connection in series of springs 7 and 20 a still greaterflexibility of the illustrated fastening device is achieved.

Finally it must be pointed out that instead of the coil springs 7 or 20,springs of other resilient materials, for example rubber or the like,could be used.

Although a particular preferred embodiment of the invention has beendisclosed above in detail for illustrative purposes, it will berecognized that variations or modifications of such disclosure, whichcome within the scope of the appended claims, are fully contemplated.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A fastening device for ski shoes comprising an anchor plane mountedto one side of the instep part of the shoe, a clamping loop pivotablyarranged to said anchor plate, a bearing block mounted to the other sideof the instep part of the shoe, and a tensioning lever mounted to thebearing block and provided with at least one recess therein, theclamping loop being engageable in said recess for permitting thefastening device to be closed, the improvement wherein the anchor plateis provided with an extension thereon forming a housing having a flatpocket-like opening therein with said housing having an upper wallportion closing said opening on the upper side thereof, said housinghaving a substantially rectanglar configuration and being made of onepiece with the anchor plate and further having a base portion integrallyconnected thereto, said clamping loop having an extension memberconnected thereto, and spring means positioned within the pocket-likeopenin with one end thereof being resiliently engageable with the baseportion of said housing and the other end thereof being resilientlyengageable with the extension member of said clamping loop so as topermit relative movement between said anchor plate and said bearingblock when said fastening device is in the closed position.

2. A fastening device as defined in claim 1, wherein the anchor plateand the housing are initially manufactured from a single piece of flatsheet metal and wherein said housing has a top wall, a bottom wall and aplurality of sidewalls, said bottom wall being integrally connected tosaid anchor plate, one of said sidewalls comprising the base portion andbeing integrally connected to the said bottom wall and having been bentrelative to said bottom wall so as to be substantially transverserelative thereto, said top wall being integrally connected to said baseportion and having been bent relative to said base portion so as to besubstantially transverse relative thereto, and a pair of lateral flapsprovided on opposite sides of said top wall and having been bentsubstantially transverse relative thereto so as to form a pair ofopposite longitudinal sidewalls.

3. A fastening device as defined in claim 1, wherein said spring meanscomprises a plurality of helical coil springs positioned within saidopening in side-by-side relationship.

4. A fastening device as defined in claim 1, wherein the extensionmember connected to the clamping loop comprises a U-shaped tensioningmember having a pair of parallel legs and a bridge interconnectedtherebetween, said bridge being positioned in and longitudinally movablewithin said pocket-like opening, said spring means being resilientlyengageable with and supported on said bridge.

5. A fastening device as defined in claim 4, wherein the legs of theU-shaped member are movably supported adjacent the side portions of saidopening, the free ends of said legs projecting out of said housingadjacent the corners of said base portion and being hingedly connectedto said clamping loop.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,314,270 3/ 1943 Elliott 247O X2,980,974 4/1961 De Santis 2468 3,287,774 11/1966 Binding et al. 247ODONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner.

